Argentine doctor sentenced for euthanasia brings his story to the theater

Every week, Argentina Marcos Hourmann he climbs on the stage of the Teatro del Barrio, in Madrid, exposes his life and submits to the verdict of a popular jury. This is not an actor, nor anything to do with the entertainment world. He is a doctor and a cardiac surgeon. In 2005, he became the first doctor to be sentenced for euthanasia in Spain, for helping 82-year-old woman die in a terminal state that had asked her to put an end to her suffering.

Hourmann lives with his family for thirty years in this country, when he left his home and his life in Buenos Aires after the death of his parents. He was 29 years old, had found a job in Madrid and decided to start a new life. His Spanish air betrays that he has already lived more than half of his life, even though he continues to speak like a porteño for the Spaniards.

As a surgeon, his life went through the operating room. He was not involved and he did not have that degree of intimacy achieved by other specialty doctors. He also did not discuss euthanasia throughout his career. But in 2005, his life rocked when he helped the death of a patient who had arrived at the hospital with irreversible illness and who had begged him twice to put end this torture.

"This woman and her daughter have placed me in another place in medicine, in a more humane part, after having acted for hours to get him out.It was very timely, and I l & # 39; I made convinced of unnecessary suffering, faced with the irreversible situation of a woman and her daughter, who asked me to put an end to this suffering more than once. I did not think it would hurt me so much, "he told PROFILE.

He did not hide it because he did not think he had done anything wrong. But the hospital management denounced him even though the patient 's family did not do so, which resulted in a homicide case and a demand for him. charge of ten years in prison. Finally, he was sentenced to a term of imprisonment and a fine. He lost everything, but managed to reinvent himself, return to practice, write his story in a book and present now Celebraré mi muerte, a documentary piece that covers his life and raises a debate about euthanasia .

"It was not easy, it was very painful years, I think that by throwing me I reached. There was no complaint from the family, they supported me. Today, the theater allows me to do catharsis every day. The work is a mixture of images and powerful text, with a round trip around my personal life, things from my childhood, my parents and how death has marked my life, "he says.

"I do not come to ask for the acquittal of anything, the idea is to withdraw consciousness, to talk about the subject, to discuss and not to be hidden, we are not afraid to talk about it. "

Although he reached a court agreement in 2009, he decided to go to England with his family to start again. He found a job in a hospital. Until his story is published tabloid cover The sun, where in his picture they added the caption "killer doc" Medical killer, and overnight he still lost everything. "I have nothing left, but there was no total destruction because my family always supported me."

Back in Spain, finally managed to return to practice, but independently. The lack of support from his colleagues before the hospital management report and all that followed did not allow him to return to a hospital. "Doctors are human beings, with flaws and virtues, I do not have a grudge," he says.

In 2017, he published his book "Morir vivir, vivir moririendo", telling his story, which led him to give TV interviews and discussions on TEDx where he talks about euthanasia. In fact, during one of these interviews, you had the idea of ​​leading your life on stage and telling it face to face with the audience.

On stage During the first part, Hourmann tells the story of what happened that day at the hospital and the debate about what was generated by the complaint. He talks about sedation, a legal procedure in Spain. and euthanasia, considered a crime. In addition, throughout the work, a voiceover asks questions to which he responds.

People die worthily under the beliefs and experiences of life that everyone has, but all makes a drama, seeing them intubated, do not say goodbye, mourning, black. I'm not saying that it's a moment of joy, but it can lead to a less dramatic path. "

"The title has to do with the fact that we see death as a tragedy.People die worthily under the beliefs and experiences of life that everyone has, but quite a drama, seeing them intubated, do not say goodbye, mourning, black.I do not say it's a moment of joy, but it can lead to a less dramatic path.In the end, I think the people you love are always with a, c & # 39; That's why I think it's a good title to understand that death is another, basic step of life itself. "

In the end, a popular jury made up of eight people from the audience who attend the scene discusses his thoughts and renders a verdict. "The idea is not only to say if I am innocent or guilty, I do not come to seek the acquittal of anything, the idea is to remove the conscience, to speak about the subject, to be discussed and not to be hidden, that do not be afraid to talk about it"He says.

Legality In Europe, euthanasia is legal in certain countries such as Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg. In Spain, attempts have been made to decriminalize it with bills, but this remains a crime. This week, the arrest of a man who had helped his wife die and had been arrested re-launched the debate (see separately).

According to polls conducted among the different political parties, 80% of Spanish society is in favor of decriminalization. The bill provides, for example, for an badessment board composed of doctors, psychologists and lawyers to badyze each case. It is restrictive. He also considers the conscientious objection of doctors.

For Hourmann, decriminalization is not yet a fact for reasons ranging from religion to fear of abuse of power. "But the reality is different and society always has a long way ahead Nobody wants to die When they tell you that you are going to die, your life is changing, and this is a person who has the right to to choose, to come to a point where there is nothing else to do, to decide whether to live like that or not. "

The case that reopened the debate

This week, the case of Angel Hernández, the first citizen arrested in Spain for euthanasia, revived the debate that Hourmann presents every night at the theater. Hernandez, a 70-year-old man, has contributed to the death of his wife, 61-year-old Maria Jose Carrasco, who is in the final stages of her illness, after having suffered for thirty years from multiple sclerosis that caused her to become ill. Left him locked in a body in which he could not move, speak, or see.

After several requests from his wife, Hernandez helped him end this suffering, he filmed a video with this story and made it public. He was arrested and spent the first hours after the death of his imprisoned wife.

The fact that it was made public also promoted a campaign on Change.org that quickly gathered 200,000 signatures to demand his release and that no charges be brought against him. "The police told me that it was" the law ", but that they would have done the same. Yes, it's the law, but it's wrong, it should have been solved for a long timeHernandez told the El País newspaper and called for a decriminalization of euthanasia.